Hair, Makeup a Titanic Event

The dress, the shoes and the jewels might be perfect, but when stars walk across the red carpet at the 71st annual Academy Awards, the wrong hair and makeup can land them in the Fashion Don’t Hall of Fame.

That’s why nearly everyone involved in the ceremony on Sunday is taking a professional approach to grooming. The nominees and presenters hired teams of hair and makeup consultants long ago, while even non-nominees and industry executives are using on-the-spot professional services on Oscar day.

Professional makeup artist Bobbi Brown and noted hairstylist Frederic Fekkai have invited special friends and clients to receive services on Sunday. Fekkai is keeping his Beverly Hills salon open (and charging normal rates of up to $290), while Brown has established a hair and makeup center for complimentary appointments at the nearby Four Seasons Hotel. Neither is saying what big stars he and she will groom. In past years, however, Fekkai has styled Jessica Lange, Anna Paquin and Barbara Hershey.

Even though Brown and Fekkai are experts, they know the blame for a badly received hair or makeup look will come back to haunt them. Their strategy? Straddle the line between high glamour and pretty simplicity.

“It’s not about doing a lot, or nothing. It’s about something in the middle. You don’t want to go over the top or look like you just rolled out of bed,” Brown said. “There are so many critics out there waiting to slam you.”

Fekkai, who admits to “being nervous, too,” said the attention on the ceremony causes stars to seek better beauty advice.

“The mood is much different at the Academy Awards,” he said. “It is not as overdone as it was in the past. It’s sophisticated, but it is almost an attitude that they have done it [their hair] themselves. If you do too much, it looks off.”

Brown agreed.

“It’s always nice to look understated, like you didn’t try so hard,” she said.

Some stars, however, have built an image on taking risks. As part of a Gothic look last year, Madonna appeared with tiny rhinestones glued at the inner corners of her eyes. Makeup artist Laura Mercier created Madonna’s makeup and this year will give Celine Dion an Oscar look. But not every young actress is as daring as Madonna.

Brown has created what she calls the Hollywood starlet look.

“It’s a glowing complexion with a tawny, bronzing sun-kissed look,” she said. “The eyes are smoky but not overdone, with charcoal, gray, wine and a silver shimmer. On top of the bronzing face there will be a softly bright cheek.”

A natural look works well for stars who arrive in broad daylight along the red carpet and later under television lights, she said.

“The right makeup just works for both. The most important is how you look outside. That’s the hardest light. It shows every single thing. Inside light is much more forgiving.”

To keep that makeup job looking fresh, Brown will match the moisturizer and foundation to each client’s skin type, then set them with a powder-puff dusting of loose powder. Clients get a Bobbi Brown goody bag with products for midshow touch-ups, she said.

You won’t see Brown shaking a tube of glitter across her subjects’ faces, however.

“Glitter is a fun look, but it’s fun if you are very young. It photographs really badly--like sweat or weird highlights. A much more wearable way to wear it is on the eyes, lips or nails, but not on the face.”

Or the body. Glitter, she said, tends to travel to the wrong places (like the tip of your nose) or “end up looking like dandruff.”

Brown is taking an extra step to ensure that some women look glorious throughout the weekend of Oscar festivities. At the Beverly Hills Hotel party Saturday for Miramax nominees, she’s sending a makeup artist to attend to women where they most care about their looks--the hotel’s bathroom. They’ll get a quick freshening up of their makeup, and that most important bathroom commodity: beauty advice.